CJ Buckley Fund for Experiential Learning

Join us for a celebration of experiential learning in memory of CJ Buckley ’00 and hear the eighth grade present on their month-long service learning project.

Remarks from Zaryah Guyton '09, Head of School Noni Thomas López and Carter Buckley '52

Wales Theater
Gordon School
45 Maxfield Avenue
East Providence, RI

The CJ Buckley Fund for Experiential Learning was established at the Gordon School in 2005 by friends of the Buckley family in loving memory of their son, Carter Joseph (CJ) Buckley, class of 2000.

This fund connects CJ’s spirit with the heart of Gordon’s mission: to provide children with the opportunities to experience success as thinkers, learners and contributors, and thus to develop an awareness of their academic potential and personal abilities.

The resources provided by the fund support the eighth grade service learning project, and over time will support other integrated experiential learning initiatives for the benefit of Gordon students.

Donations to the fund should be made payable to the Gordon School.

Autism
by CJ Buckley '00

The blank stare masks
Her face making it
Dull and pale.

The faint light on
Her face made her
Like a ghost.
Her body limp and
Curled in the chair.

No words or expressions
Could escape. Only the
Constant shallow breathing
Could be heard.

The skin colorless
And icy but,
Hot to the
Touch. Her body was
Shaking in my hand.

Her young body was
Still but her
Mind was running.
Running away into
The deep brown ocean
Of her eyes.

Like the ocean, at
First there seems
Like there is nothing
There. But, at a second
Look there is teeming life
Beneath the surface.